PLoS ONE (Jan 2022)

Validation of self-report measures of narcissism against a diagnostic interview.

  • Stéphanie Baggio,
  • Katia Iglesias,
  • Miguel Duarte,
  • Rosetta Nicastro,
  • Roland Hasler,
  • Sebastian Euler,
  • Martin Debbané,
  • Vladan Starcevic,
  • Nader Perroud

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0266540
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 17, no. 4
p. e0266540

Abstract

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The Pathological Narcissism Inventory (PNI) and the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) are often used to screen for pathological narcissism but have rarely been validated against a clinician-administered diagnostic interview. Our study evaluated the convergent validity of the PNI and NPI against a diagnostic interview for narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) in a clinical population. We used data from a psychiatric outpatient center located in Switzerland (n = 123). Correlations between PNI/NPI and NPD ranged between .299 and .498 (common variance 9.0-24.8%). The PNI and NPI should be used carefully to screen for NPD. We highlight a need to increase the compatibility between the conceptual underpinnings of the PNI, NPI and NPD.